Joyce Lam’s artistic vision translates into new audiences

Joyce Lam, founder and artistic director of the Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre, recently received the city of Vancouver’s 2012 Cultural Harmony Award

Photograph by: Jason Payne
, VANCOUVER SUN

One of Joyce Lam’s proudest accomplishments in her quest to make Vancouver theatres more welcoming to Asian-Canadian performers, and audiences, was the night her mom showed up to watch her company’s production of The Odd Couple. And laughed.

For the Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre (VACT) production of The Odd Couple in 2008, Lam was inspired by the opera and projected surtitles above the stage, which allowed Cantonese and Mandarin speakers to understand the same script English speakers were hearing. “Everyone laughed at the same time,” recalls Lam proudly.

The founder and artistic director of VACT recently received the city of Vancouver’s 2012 Cultural Harmony Award, but it takes some coaxing to get her to talk about the honour. “It’s really hard to accept praise,” Lam told The Sun. “In Chinese culture you’re not supposed to be recognized so much as an individual; rather than me, me, me, me, it’s we, we, we, we. It’s not just me, it’s everyone who helped get this up and running.” She pauses, laughs. “Now I’m stuttering because I find this uncomfortable.”

Lam does admit that due to a serious autoimmune disease, a variant of lupus, she has faced serious challenges in pursuing her passion for theatre. In her 20s she was a candidate for a double lung and heart transplant, until an experimental drug made the operation unnecessary. “They actually have a medical journal article written on me,” says Lam.

The Cultural Harmony Award has been presented annually since 1996 to recognize individuals and organizations that contribute to nurturing the city’s diversity. Lam’s translation: “It’s an award given to people who have actually tried to make the city a little more colourful.” Perhaps the most unique aspect of the award — a tree is planted in the name of each winner at the Vancouver park board’s Cultural Harmony Grove, east of the Burrard Marina.

Lam’s much more comfortable talking about VACT’s upcoming Master Class production (their first ever) of the acclaimed new comedy The Theory of Everything by the Thai-American writer Prince Gomolvilas. The play is about a diverse group of Asian-Americans who spend their spare time searching for UFOs from the roof of a Las Vegas wedding chapel. “It’s an award-winning show from the States with seven strong characters where they all get a monologue,” says Lam. The instructor in charge of the Master Class program, Leo Award winner Rick Tae, is mentoring the show’s director, Alfred Lui.

Lam says she was inspired to try to make a difference while attending theatrical productions in Vancouver in the 1980s: “I didn’t see people of colour on stage, or in the audience, and I thought people would come to the shows if they saw people they could identify on stage.” Lam and about 10 other volunteers decided to change things up by staging a comedy night featuring Asian-Canadian performers.

Their goal was to “break stereotypes,” says Lam. “That was so successful that we thought, ‘Let’s do another one.’ ” Since then, VACT has mounted more than 40 shows — including the first full production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song since 1958, the original hit musical Red Letters and the comedy soap, Sex in Vancouver — a spinoff of the successful stage show Sex in Seattle, which was a spinoff of ... well, you know.

“There wasn’t nudity, but there was perceived nudity,” says Lam. It was very sexy and a lot of fun and it was very fast-moving. We did that for five years as one of our productions. It was the first time they (Vancouver audiences) probably saw a good-looking Asian man get some on stage.”

Lam is also delighted to talk about the success of VACT alumni such as Ash Lee, who quit his job as an engineer, enrolled in Langara’s Studio 58 and now has his Equity status. And Josette Jorge (recently seen in Play With Monsters). “She’s our poster child. She went from high school to SFU’s theatre program. ... She acts and writes and participates in our sketch comedy events. And we have a lot of people who’ve gone on to film.”

The one aspect of VACT that isn’t quite successful is the company’s structure, or lack thereof. Because VACT was started by theatre lovers, not theatre pros, they didn’t build a traditional infrastructure, which means their primary source of funding is ticket sales. “I’m doing it as a volunteer. I’m not paid as artistic director,” says Lam before adding a reminder that all ticket sales from the new Master Class show will go directly to funding next year’s Master Class program.

The Theory of Everything

Preview Jan. 9; show runs Jan. 10-12 | Roundhouse Performance Centre

Tickets: Preview is pay what you can; From Jan. 10, $15 adult/$10 student & senior in advance from www.vact.ca or at door for $20

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